Commonwealth Club of California
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Week to Week Political Roundtable (5/17/13)
Melissa Griffin, Columnist, San Francisco Examiner; Contributor, KPIX TV and San Francisco Magazine; Attorney Aaron Sankin, Assistant Editor, The Huffington Post C.W. Nevius, Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle John Zipperer, Vice President, Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California – Host Join our panelists for informative and fun commentary on political and other major news, audience discussion of the week’s events, and our news quiz! We'll get into the D.C. scandals, the...
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Barney Frank, Former Member of Congress (5/13/13)
Barney Frank, Former Member of Congress Former Member of Congress (D-MA) Scott Shafer, Host, "The California Report," KQED San Francisco - Moderator First elected to Congress in 1980, Frank gained a reputation as a forceful legislator and a pragmatic politician whose intellect and sense of humor has made him one of the most influential and colorful figures in Washington. In 1987, Frank became the first member of Congress to voluntarily come out as openly gay, and in 2012 he married his...
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Laurel Bellows, ABA President: The Fight for Liberty,...
Laurel Bellows American Bar Association President Jeffrey Brand, Dean, University of San Francisco Law School - Moderator Nationwide, our courts are withering – starved for adequate funding. Meanwhile, there are more than 100,000 people in the United States who are forced to provide sex and labor services for their captors’ profits. And according to some estimates, women continue to earn just 77 cents for every dollar that men earn. Come listen to one of the nation’s top legal voices, ABA...
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Mark Bittman, NY Times Food Columnist (5/7/13)
Mark Bittman, NY Times Food Columnist New York Times Food Columnist; Author, VB6 In conversation with Chef Joey Altman Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, with 1 million copies in print, is a mainstay of the modern kitchen. In his latest book, he makes the case that a partially vegan diet can dramatically improve your health. Come hear from one of America’s most widely read and entertaining food personalities. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of...
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Mary Roach, Author, Gulp, Stiff, Bonk and Packing for...
Mary Roach, Author, Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, Stiff, Bonk and Packing for Mars In conversation with Adam Rogers, Articles Editor, Wired Magazine Why doesn’t the stomach digest itself? How much can you eat before you literally burst? Can constipation really kill you? The ever-curious Mary Roach is set to find out. In her latest release, Gulp, the best-selling author of Stiff, Bonk and Packing for Mars takes readers on a crazy tour of the invisible realm that we carry around...
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NY Times Reporter Mark Mazzetti: Inside the CIA and...
NY Times Reporter Mark Mazzetti: Inside the CIA and America's Covert Operations (4/24/13) Mark Mazzetti, National Security Reporter, The New York Times; Winner, Pulitzer Prize Philip Yun, Executive Director and COO , Ploughshares Fund - Moderator According to Mazzetti, the CIA, created as a Cold War espionage service, is now more than ever a paramilitary agency ordered by the White House to kill off the nation's enemies: from the sustained bombing campaign in the mountains of Pakistan and...
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Vali Nasr: Improving America's Relations with the Muslim...
Vali Nasr, Dean, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University, Author, The Dispensable Nation Michael Nacht, Ph.D., Professor and former Dean, Goldman School of Public Policy, U.C. Berkeley; Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs, Obama Administration - Moderator Former State Department advisor for Afghanistan and Pakistan and best-selling author Nasr delivers a sharp indictment of America’s flawed foreign policy and outlines a...
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Kenneth Feinberg: The Master of Disasters (4/16/13)
Attorney; Author, What Is Life Worth? Mary Cranston, Former Chair, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Retired Senior Partner Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman - Moderator Prominent alternative dispute mediator and attorney Feinberg has negotiated settlements in some of the most challenging and emotional crises of our times. The American Bar Association called Feinberg ‘the Master of Disasters .” Feinberg was dubbed “The Pay Czar” for his hands-on administrative work in the federal bailout...
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David Stockman: The Great Deformation (4/11/13)
Former U.S. Congressman; Author, The Great Deformation: How Crony Capitalism Corrupts Free Marks and Democracy Stockman, one of the architects of the Reagan Revolution, says that crony capitalism has made fools of us all, transforming Republican treasury secretaries into big-government interventionists and populist Democratic presidents into industry-wrecking internationalists. Stockman will discuss where he believes capitalism went wrong in this country and how it might be restored. His...
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Ambassador Kenneth Taylor: "Argo" and Beyond (4/17/13)
Kenneth Taylor, Canadian Ambassador to Iran, 1977-80 Come hear the firsthand story of the Canadian ambassador who, at enormous risk, housed six American embassy workers during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979. Portrayed by actor Victor Garber in the recent Oscar-winning film Argo, Taylor will share experiences from his storied career, which has included assignments ranging from Guatemala, Detroit, Pakistan, London to Ottawa, Tehran and New York. He resigned from the diplomatic service in 1984...
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Sebastian Thrun: What's Next in Higher Education?...
Sebastian Thrun, Co-founder and CEO, Udacity Steven Leckart, Correspondent, Wired Magazine - Moderator MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses – promise to revolutionize higher education. Last year Thrun kicked off MOOC-mania and made history by offering his Stanford Artificial Intelligence class to an unprecedented 160,000 students and sparked a discussion about the future of education. Can MOOCS be the solution to affordable and accessible college? What impact will they have on traditional...
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Week to Week Political Roundtable (4/15/13)
Larry Gerston, Professor, SJSU; Political Analyst, NBC 11; Author, Not So Golden After All: The Rise and Fall of California Carla Marinucci, Senior Political Writer, San Francisco Chronicle Debra J. Saunders, Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle; “Token Conservative” Blogger, SFGate.com John Zipperer, Vice President, Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of Californa – Host We prove that politics doesn't have to be a shouting match. Join our panelists for informative and fun commentary on...
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North Korea: A Town Hall (4/8/13)
Philip Yun, Executive Director, Ploughshares Fund; Former Senior Member of U.S. Delegation and Negotiator, Peace Talks with North Korea David Straub, Associate Director, Korean Studies Program, The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University; Former U.S. State Department Officer for Korean Affairs Dr. Gloria Duffy, President and CEO, Commonwealth Club - Moderator North Korea shocked the world when it recently threatened nuclear war with the U.S. and announced it...
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Grover Norquist, Founder, Americans for Tax Reform...
Grover Norquist, Founder, Americans for Tax Reform The Modern Republican Party and the Future of America Jonathan Weber, West Coast Bureau Chief, Thomson Reuters - Moderator Don't miss this chance to hear from anti-tax crusader, National Rifle Association board member and conservative leader Norquist, who as president of Americans for Tax Reform works to limit the size and cost of government, opposes higher taxes at the federal, state and local levels, and supports tax reform that moves...
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Senator Dianne Feinstein: Guns, Drones and Energy...
Senator Dianne Feinstein: Guns, Drones and Energy Senator Feinstein says that the United States should restrain the use of guns on the street and drones in the air. Gun control legislation is inching forward in Congress, though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid cut out the assault weapon ban that Feinstein has long championed. Calling drones a “very dangerous weapon,” she says sales to other countries should be prohibited and that rules need to be placed on commercial use in this country....
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Improving the Ethics and Practice of Medicine (3/28/13)
Improving the Ethics and Practice of Medicine Robert M. Pearl, M.D., Executive Director and CEO, The Permanente Medical Group Victoria Sweet, M.D., San Francisco's Laguna Honda Hospital; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCSF; Author, God's Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine Josh Adler, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Lisa Aliferis, KQED Health Editor - Moderator A high-level panel of local...
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Design Thinking with Yves Bhar and Tim Brown (3/21/13)
Design Thinking with Yves Bhar and Tim Brown Yves Bhar, CEO/Founder, fuseproject; COO, Jawbone Tim Brown, President and CEO, IDEO Peter Schwartz, Co-founder, Global Business Network; Senior Vice President, Salesforce - Moderator Design is not just for house interiors or a tech gadget’s user interface. Design has come to infiltrate how great leaders think, collaborate and tackle the world’s smallest and greatest problems. The idea of design thinking, often credited to IDEO CEO Tim Brown, has...
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Carly Fiorina-Former CEO, HP; Chair, Good360;...
Carly Fiorina Former CEO, HP; Chair, Good360; Contributor, CNBC Alison van Diggelen, Host, "FreshDialogues" and Contributer, NPR's KQED Radio - Moderator What is the financial outlook for our country? Are we on the verge of the next tech revolution? Former HP CEO Fiorina shares her thoughts on how the U.S. and California are performing in terms of innovation, job creation and economic growth. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club's Silicon Valley...
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Deborah Tannen: Can We Talk? What’s Really Going on in...
Deborah Tannen: Can We Talk? What’s Really Going on in the Conversations Between Parents, Partners, Co-workers, Sibs and Kids! University Professor, Georgetown University; Author; Poet; Essay Writer Sedge Thomson, Radio Host, "West Coast Live" - Moderator Tannen is the author of You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation, which was on the New York Times bes- seller list for nearly four years. Specializing in explaining how conversational style - how you say what you mean - can...
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Big Data: Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier...
Big Data: Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation, Oxford University; Co-author, Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think Kenneth Cukier, Data Editor, The Economist; Co-author, Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think Moira Gunn, Host, "Tech Nation," NPR - Moderator What does a car's paint color reveal about its roadworthiness? How did Google searches...
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Karen Elliott House: An Inside Look at Saudi Arabia...
An Inside Look at Saudi Arabia Karen Elliott House, Author, On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines – and Future Robert Rosenthal, Executive Director, Center for Investigative Reporting - Moderator House has spent the last 30 years writing about Saudi Arabia — as diplomatic correspondent, foreign editor, and then publisher of The Wall Street Journal. Through observation, anecdote, extensive interviews and analysis she navigates the maze in which Saudi citizens find...
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Dick Costolo: Twitter CEO (3/7/13)
Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO In conversation with Nick Bilton, New York Times columnist and lead blogger, Bits Blog From allowing people to opt out of invasive internet tracking on Twitter and refusing to shut the site down during the SOPA conundrum to his former days as a Chicago stand-up comedian and his passion for improv, Twitter CEO Costolo is known for bold and sometimes surprising decision making. In his day-to-day as Twitter’s chief, Costolo has the challenging post of managing the...
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Gavin Newsom: Angry Birds for Democracy (2/28/13)
Gavin Newsom: Angry Birds for Democracy Lieutenant Governor of California; Author, Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government In conversation with Adam Lashinsky, Senior Editor at Large, Fortune Magazine Anyone with an iPhone can publish, purchase, invest and entertain with the touch of a button – and now it’s time for government to get in the game. In his new book Citizenville, Newsom looks at how new digital tools can be used to dissolve political gridlock...
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Week to Week (3/4/13)
Week to Week Larry Gerston, Professor of Political Science, San Jose State University; Analyst, NBC 11; Author, Not So Golden After All: The Rise and Fall of California Melissa Griffin, Columnist, San Francisco Examiner; Contributor, KPIX TV, San Francisco Magazine; Attorney Carly Schwartz, Founding Editor, Huffington Post San Francisco John Zipperer, Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club - Host Our political discussion series returns to help try to make sense of the...
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Michelle Rhee: Fighting to Put Students First (2/21/13)
Michelle Rhee Founder and CEO, StudentsFirst; Former Chancellor, D.C. Public School System; Author, Radical In conversation with Kirk Hanson, Executive Director, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University Rhee, a fearless pioneering advocate for education reform, delivers her plan for better American schools. Informing her proposal are her years of teaching in inner-city Baltimore; her turbulent tenure as chancellor of the Washington, D.C., public schools; and her current...
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President Jimmy Carter (2/24/13)
President Jimmy Carter Former U.S. President; Founder, The Carter Center; Recipient, Nobel Peace Prize Don't miss this rare visit with the 39th president of the United States. Jimmy Carter's tenure as president was marked by some of the greatest challenges facing the country in the late 20th century: an energy crisis, a troubled relationship with Iran — issues that are still relevant today. Significant foreign policy accomplishments of Carter's administration included the Panama Canal...
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Madeleine K. Albright (2/22/13)
Madeleine K. Albright Former U.S. Secretary of State; Author, Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948 In conversation with Dan Ashley, News Anchor, ABC 7 TV; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors When Albright was U.S. secretary of state in the 1990s, she brought to her job as America's top diplomat a deeply felt understanding of the lessons and wounds of history. Come hear Albright share her remarkable personal story of growing up in Czechoslovakia during...
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Becky Worley: Good Morning America’s Tech Guru (2/13/12)
Becky Worley: Good Morning America’s Tech Guru Reporter; Television Host In conversation with Quentin Hardy, Deputy Technology Editor, The New York Times; Technology and Business Expert The lively and playful Worley comes to us for a discussion about how to make technology more accessible to the masses by eliminating the stresses associated with complicated new gadgets. A contributing reporter on "Good Morning America" and ABC and host of “Upgrade Your Life,” “The Next Frontier” and the...
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Jared Diamond-Author, Guns, Germs, and Steel and The...
Jared Diamond Professor of Geography, UCLA; Author, Guns, Germs, and Steel and The World Until Yesterday Pulitzer Prize-winning author Diamond examines how Amazonian Indians, Inuit and other traditional societies have adapted and evolved for nearly 6 million years. He explains what we can still learn from these traditional societies regarding universal human problems like elder care, child rearing, physical fitness and conflict resolution. This program was recorded in the Silicon Valley...
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Rob Reiner (2/1/13)
When Harry Met Sal: Rob Reiner on Marriage Equality, Political Activism, and a Life in Hollywood Rob Reiner, Film Director, This Is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally..., A Few Good Men, Misery, The American President, Ghosts of Mississippi, The Bucket List; Actor; Screenwriter; Producer; Executive, Castle Rock Entertainment; Political Activist In conversation with Dan Ashley, News Anchor, ABC 7 TV; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors From his starring...
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Week to Week: (2/8/13)
Week to Week Gina Baleria, Assistant News and Social Media Director, KGO; Lecturer, Beginning Radio and Multimedia Content Delivery, San Francisco State University Debra J. Saunders, Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle; "Token Conservative" Blogger, SFGate.com Todd A. Vogt, President and Publisher, the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Bay Guardian John Zipperer, Vice President, Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California -- Host Join us for food, discussion and some...
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Bruce Bochy (2/6/13)
San Francisco Giants’ Bruce Bochy Manager, SF Giants; Two-time National League Manager of the Year In conversation with Roy Eisenhardt Giants President Larry Baer has stated that hiring Bruce Bochy was "probably the best move [this Giants management] ever made.” The team had a surprise win in the 2010 World Series, followed two years later by an outstanding season and another big win in an epic World Series sweep of the Tigers. With spring training just around the corner, you may be...
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Iran: Is there still time for a diplomatic solution?...
Iran: Is there still time for a diplomatic solution? Ambassador William H. Luers, Director, The Iran Project; Former U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia and Venezuela; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Ambassador James Dobbins, Director, RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center; Former Assistant Secretary of State for Europe; Former Clinton and George W. Bush Administration Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia, Haiti and Somalia. Lieutenant General...
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Christina Romer and Keith Hennessey: Economic Forecast...
Christina Romer and Keith Hennessey: Bank of America/ Walter E. Hoadley Annual Economic Forecast Keith Hennessey, Director, National Economic Council Under President George W. Bush; Member, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Christina Romer, Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley; Immediate past Chair, President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers In conversation with Anna Mok, Vice Chair, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors; Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP As we come...
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John Mackey: A Whole-istic Approach to Capitalism...
John Mackey: A Whole-istic Approach to Capitalism John Mackey, CEO, Co-founder, Whole Foods Market; Co-author, Conscious Capitalism Iconic CEO and co-founder Mackey is known for his all-natural approach to a mega chain of grocery stores, Whole Foods. The success of his stores is, in part, credited with a boom in the healthy food movement whereby terms like organic, local, wild and hormone free are becoming rote for more than just the Birkenstock crowd. He’s also taken the formula for...
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John Mackey: A Whole-istic Approach to Capitalism...
John Mackey: A Whole-istic Approach to Capitalism CEO, Co-founder, Whole Foods Market; Co-author, Conscious Capitalism Iconic CEO and co-founder Mackey is known for his all-natural approach to a mega chain of grocery stores, Whole Foods. The success of his stores is, in part, credited with a boom in the healthy food movement whereby terms like organic, local, wild and hormone free are becoming rote for more than just the Birkenstock crowd. He’s also taken the formula for conscious capitalism...
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Gun Laws: California and the Nation – What Should Be...
Gun Laws: California and the Nation – What Should Be Done? Nancy Skinner, Member, California State Assembly Benjamin Van Houten, Managing Attorney, Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence Sgt. Kelly Dunn, SFPD Special Victims and Psychiatric Liaison Units Gene Hoffman, Chairman, The Calguns Foundation; Member, Board of Trustees, Second Amendment Foundation John Diaz, Editorial Page Editor, San Francisco Chronicle - Moderator Come hear a wide range of views and expert voices tackle one of the most...
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Dr. Nora Volkow: Working to Eliminate Addiction (1/14/13)
M.D., Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health Addiction affects 23.2 million Americans. The head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse believes that all addictions can be eliminated if the brain’s receptors can be controlled. She will explain her groundbreaking work and the amazing personal story that has allowed her, as the great-granddaughter of famed Russian dissident Leon Trotsky, to achieve her current prominence. This program was recorded in...
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Y Combinator: The Secret in This Incubator’s Sauce...
Y Combinator: The Secret in This Incubator’s Sauce Harj Taggar, Partner, Y Combinator Joe Gebbia, CPO and Co-founder, Airbnb Steve Huffman, Co-founder, Hipmunk and Reddit Jude Gomila, Co-founder, Heyzap Randall Stross, Author, The Launch Pad: Inside Y Combinator, Silicon Valley's Most Exclusive School for Startups - Moderator Companies like Heyzap, Airbnb, Hipmunk, Reddit and Dropbox are all very different but have one mighty factor in common – they got their initial green and kibitz from Y...
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Julin Castro, Mayor of San Antonio, Texas (1/7/13)
Julin Castro, Mayor of San Antonio, Texas San Antonio Mayor Julin Castro electrified the Charlotte audience during his keynote speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, reminding the audience that “The American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay!” Castro’s rise began in San Antonio, encouraged and inspired by his Mexican-American single mother, a political activist. Mayor Castro has prioritized creating economic and educational opportunities for his constituents,...
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Donald Berwick: A Bright Future for Health Care: Is It...
A Bright Future for Health Care: Is It Possible? Donald Berwick, M.D., Former President and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement; Former Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services The second annual Lundberg Institute Lecture welcomes Dr. Berwick, who studies the management of health-care systems with emphasis on using scientific methods and evidence-based medicine and comparative effectiveness research to improve the tradeoff among quality, safety and costs. In the...
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Eric Asimov: Chief Wine Critic, The New York Times;...
Eric Asimov: How to Love Wine Chief Wine Critic, The New York Times; Author, How to Love Wine Oenophiles and wine novices are being exposed to an ever-expanding universe of wines. Though providing an exciting opportunity for exploration, this staggering array of choices can prompt a feeling of being overwhelmed and make choosing a good wine a stressful experience. Happily, the chief wine critic for The New York Times and author of How to Love Wine is here to help. Join Asimov for an...
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Ray Kurzweil: Inventor; Futurist; Author, How to Create...
Ray Kurzweil Inventor; Futurist; Author, How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed For decades pioneering inventor and theorist Kurzweil has explored how artificial intelligence can enrich and expand human capabilities. Now he takes this exploration to the next step: reverse-engineering the brain to understand how it works, then applying that knowledge to create vastly intelligent machines. Drawing on the most recent neuroscience research, his own research and inventions in...
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Jon Meacham (11/29/12)
Contributing Editor, Time magazine; Author, Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power Dr. Joseph Fink, President Emeritus, Dominican University of California - Moderator Thomas Jefferson hated confrontation, and yet, according to Meacham, his understanding of power and human nature enabled him to prevail. In his biography of Jefferson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author brings to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician...
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Jill Abramson, NY Times Executive Editor: Deciding the...
Deciding the News That's Fit to Print Jill Abramson, Executive Editor, The New York Times Robert J. Rosenthal, Executive Director, the Center for Investigative Reporting - Moderator As executive editor of The New York Times, Abramson is the highest ranking person in that newsroom and the first woman to ever have the title. She oversees The New York Times news report in all its various print, digital and mobile platforms. Abramson says that as a born-and-raised New Yorker, she considered...
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Simon Winchester: Skulls – A Compelling Tale Of The...
Simon Winchester: Skulls – A Compelling Tale Of The World's Most Bizarre Collection Simon Winchester, Journalist; Author, A Crack at the Edge of the World and Skulls: An Exploration of Alan Dudley’s Curious Collection Brian Hackney, CBS 5 Correspondent - Moderator The renowned writer and raconteur whose books on the 1906 earthquake, Krakatoa and the Oxford English Dictionary captivated readers worldwide now presents a spellbinding exploration of an obsessive collector of what some may call...
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Dr. Yaron Brook and Dr. David Callahan: Is Capitalism...
Dr. Yaron Brook and Dr. David Callahan: Is Capitalism Moral? A Debate Yaron Brook, Ph.D., Executive Director, The Ayn Rand Institute; Co-author, Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government David Callahan, Ph.D., Co-founder, Demos; Author, The Moral Center: How Progressives Can Unite America Around Our Shared Values Dr. Ruth Shapiro, Principal, Keyi Strategies; Social Entrepreneur in Residence, The Commonwealth Club - Moderator From the financial crisis to Obamacare to...
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Tim Ferriss: The 4-Hour Movement (11/28/12)
Investor and Entrepreneur; Author, The 4-Hour Chef, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Workweek Ferriss has changed lives (in 4-hour increments) twice now. The author of New York Times best-sellers The 4-Hour Workweek and The 4-Hour Body, Ferriss is on a one-man mission to make you more effective in everything you do – whether it’s in the office, the gym or even the kitchen. Now, in The 4-Hour Chef, he dishes up the radically counterintuitive advice that his devotees have come to expect, via...
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Water: Innovating for the Essential Resource (11/7/12)
Water: Innovating for the Essential Resource Jake Norton, Co-founder and Lead Climber, Challenge 21 Evan Thomas, Assistant Professor and Director, The SWEET Lab; Executive Vice President, Manna Energy Limited Jon Rose, Professional Surfer; Founder, Waves for Water Peter Gleick, Water Expert; Co-founder and President, Pacific Institute; MacArthur Fellow Jason Mark, Editor, Earth Island Journal - Moderator Water: We can’t live without it – but most of the world practically does. The event will...
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Chris Dodd (10/2/12)
Chris Dodd: Creative Content and the Cloud Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman and CEO, Motion Picture Association of America; Former Senator, Connecticut In conversation with Gavin Newsom, Lt. Governor, California; Host, The Gavin Newsom Show MPAA chief Dodd is charged with advocating for the film, home entertainment and television industries around the world. The MPAA represents one of the most creative, productive and powerful industries in America - one that supports 2.2 million creators and...
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Behind the Headlines: The CIA & Post 9/11 National...
Behind the Headlines: The CIA & Post 9/11 National Security with New York Times Reporter Eric Schmitt Eric Schmitt, New York Times National Security Senior Reporter Stephen Zunes, Professor, Department of Politics/Middle East Studies, University of San Francisco - Moderator Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times senior writer Schmitt has covered the military, terrorism and national security affairs for two decades. He is currently covering the evolving story of the FBI Investigation that led...
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The Mind, Madness and Gun Violence (11/1/12)
The Mind, Madness and Gun Violence Rene L. Binder, M.D., University of California, San Francisco Medical School; Psychiatrist; Professor; Founder and Director, UCSF Psychiatry and the Law Program Carol Kingsley, Attorney/Mediator; Board Member, Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Her husband Jack was among those killed at 101 California Street in 1993. Mark Follman, Senior Editor, Mother Jones, focused on politics and national security. This past summer, Follman led an in-depth data...
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Dr. Otis Brawley: Fighting Patient Mistreatment in...
Dr. Otis Brawley: Fighting Patient Mistreatment in America Otis Brawley, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President, American Cancer Society; Co-author, How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America Lisa Aliferis, KQED Health Editor - Moderator Finance, Brawley asserts, is inextricably linked to health care in America’s current system. Even the very procedures patients undergo, he says, are frequently determined more by doctors’ expected payment for performing...
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Governor Jerry Brown (11/1/12)
Governor Jerry Brown California Governor Jerry Brown says his Prop. 30 ballot initiative prevents a round of swingeing cuts to the state's education system. Locked into a heated campaign against opponents of any tax increase as well as a competing tax-increase measure, Brown tells San Francisco's Commonwealth Club of California that it's Prop 30 or nothing – there's no other money that can be funneled to schools if the new revenues aren't passed. Brown also details some of the significant...
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Education Beyond Talk: The Amazing Impact of Learning by...
Education Beyond Talk: The Amazing Impact of Learning by Doing Charles Best, Founder, Donorschoose.org Vince Bertram, Ph.D., President and CEO, Project Lead the Way Helen Quinn, Ph.D., Emerita Professor of Physics and Former Chair, Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Stanford University; Chair, National Board on Science Education Dennis Bartels, Ph.D., Executive Director, Exploratorium; Member, Education Working Group for the President's Council of Advisors on Science and...
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Theodore B. Olson: Reflecting on Prop 8 (10/18/12)
Theodore B. Olson: Reflecting on Prop 8 Theodore B. Olson, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Former U.S. Solicitor General (2001-2004) Pamela Karlan, Professor of Public Interest Law and Co-director, Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, Stanford Law School - Moderator Selected by Time magazine in 2010 as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, Olson is one of the nation's premier appellate and U.S. Supreme Court advocates. He has argued 58 cases in the Supreme Court (prevailing in...
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Cecile Richards, President, Planned Parenthood (10/10/12)
Cecile Richards: INFORUM’s 21st Century Visionary Award Cecile Richards, President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund In conversation with Clara Jeffery, Editor in Chief, Mother Jones Website tickets for this program have ended. You can still buy tickets at the door or online here Cecile Richards, a high-profile defender of women’s rights, will be honored with INFORUM’s 21st Century Visionary Award on October 10. She has earned respect for her poised...
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Steven Pinker: Why Violence Has Declined (10/9/12)
Steven Pinker Professor of Psychology, Harvard University; Author, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined Despite what can sometimes appear to be a pervasive culture of violence, Pinker, a leading expert on language and the mind, posits that we might in fact be living in one of the most peaceful times of our existence. Our wars are proportionally a fraction as deadly as ancient tribal warfare, and smaller-scale violence has also waned over the centuries, he claims. If...
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Grading California’s Economy: Prospects for Economic...
Grading California’s Economy: Prospects for Economic Recovery John Chiang, Controller, State of California Peter Gruebele, Executive Vice President, Commercial Banking, Wells Fargo Joel Kotkin, Distinguished Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures, Chapman University; Author, The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050 Ro Khanna, Visiting Lecturer, Department of Economics, Stanford University; Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Obama Administration; Author, Entrepreneurial Nation: Why...
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Hedrick Smith: Who Stole the American Dream? (9/18/12)
Hedrick Smith: Who Stole the American Dream? Hedrick Smith, Former Reporter, The New York Times; Producer, PBS; Author, Who Stole the American Dream? Robert Rosenthal, Executive Director, California Watch, Center For Investigative Reporting - Moderator Is the American Dream becoming a lost ideal of the past? Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy-winning journalist Smith suggests that it is as a result of four decades of erosion induced by corporate and political decisions. Smith will discuss the extent...
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Resolving California’s Budget Crisis: Lessons from a New...
Resolving California’s Budget Crisis: Lessons from a New Six-State Study Lenny Mendonca, Member, California Forward Leadership Council; Director, McKinsey and Company George Shultz, Former U.S. Secretary of State and U.S. Secretary of Labor; Member, Advisory Board on the State Budget Crisis David Crane, Former Special Advisor to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; Member, Advisory Board on the State Budget Crisis Karol Denniston, Partner, Schiff Hardin LLP's Municipal Restructuring...
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Quarterback Trauma: Injuries in the NFL (8/29/12)
Quarterback Trauma: Injuries in the NFL Dan Fouts, Hall of Fame San Diego Chargers Quarterback; CBS Television Sports NFL Analyst A. Brent Eastman, M.D., Trauma Surgeon, Chief Medical Officer and Corporate Sr. Vice President, Scripps Health; President-Elect, American College of Surgeons John York, M.D., Co-chairman, San Francisco 49ers; Chairman, NFL’s Health & Safety Advisory Committee Jed York, CEO, San Francisco 49ers - Introducer The recent wave of lawsuits filed on behalf of former NLF...
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Geoffrey Nunberg: Ascent of the A-word (8/15/12)
Geoffrey Nunberg Adjunct Full Professor, UC Berkeley School of Information; Author, Ascent of the A-Word: A--holism, the First Sixty Years Robert Sutton, Professor, Management Science & Engineering, Stanford University; Author, The No A--hole Rule - Moderator It went from the mouths of WWII servicemen to the typewriter of a young Norman Mailer. By the 1970s it had become a staple of Neil Simon plays and Woody Allen movies. In 2000, George W. Bush accidentally uttered it on a live mic and...
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New Lives and Old Dreams: Immigration in America 2012...
New Lives and Old Dreams: Immigration in America 2012 Arturo S. Rodriguez, President, United Farm Workers Lavinia Limn, President and CEO, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Dulce Matuz, President, Arizona Dream Act Coalition Deep Nishar, Senior Vice President, Products & User Experience, LinkedIn Raul Ramirez, Executive Director of News and Public Affairs, KQED Public Radio - Moderator At The Commonwealth Club in 1984, Cesar Chavez said “The fight is never about grapes or lettuce....
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George Lakoff (7/31/12)
George Lakoff Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics, UC Berkeley; Co-author, The Little Blue Book: The Essential Guide to Thinking and Talking Democratic Dr. Terry Christensen, Professor Emeritus, San Jose State University and Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley Advisory Council Member - Moderator Language matters – especially when it comes to politics. With the 2012 election season upon us, linguistics expert Lakoff dissects the way we vote on important issues and presents his...
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General Martin Dempsey, Chairman, Joint Chiefs Of Staff...
General Martin Dempsey Chairman, Joint Chiefs Of Staff The nation's highest ranking military officer will discuss current international security challenges and the future of the U.S. military. General Dempsey serves as the 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this capacity, he is the principal military adviser to the president, the secretary of defense and the National Security Council. Prior to becoming chairman, the general served as the Army's 37th chief of staff. Past...
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The Supreme Court Health-Care Ruling and Its Impact on...
The Supreme Court Health-Care Ruling and Its Impact on California Peter Lee, Executive Director, California Health Benefit Exchange Larry Levitt, Vice President of Special Projects, Kaiser Family Foundation Bill Kramer, Executive Director for National Health Policy, Pacific Business Group on Health Anthony Wright, Executive Director, Health Access (a consumer advocacy coalition) Lisa Aliferis, Health Editor, KQED News - Moderator The Supreme Court's decision to uphold the majority of...
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Chris Hayes: America After Meritocracy (7/11/12)
Chris Hayes: America After Meritocracy Chris Hayes, Editor at Large, The Nation; MSNBC Host, Up With Chris Hayes; Author, Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy John Diaz, Editorial Page Editor, San Francisco Chronicle - Moderator In his new book, MSNBC’s rising star Hayes offers a radically novel answer to what led America into the “Fail Decade”: an era plagued with the failure of Congress, Wall Street and even Major League Baseball. An expert on political culture and political...
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Week to Week: The News Commentary Program (7/30/12)
Week to Week: The News Commentary Program Larry Gerston, Professor, SJSU; Political Analyst, NBC 11 Carla Marinucci, Senior Political Writer, San Francisco Chronicle Debra J. Saunders, Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle; “Token Conservative” Blogger, SFGate.com Join our panelists for informative and fun commentary on political and other major news, plus an in-depth look at one topic in the news, audience discussion of the week’s events, and our first competitive news quiz! Also join us for a...
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Rajiv Chandrasekaran: The War Within the War for...
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Senior Correspondent & Associate Editor, The Washington Post; Author, Imperial Life in the Emerald City and Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan Joel Brinkley, Former New York Times Middle East and Washington Correspondent; Hearst Visiting Professional in Residence, Stanford University Department of Communication - Moderator As senior correspondent for The Washington Post and a political pundit for CNN, MSNBC and National Public Radio, author...
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E.J. Dionne Jr: Divided Political Heart (6/18/12)
Divided Political Heart E.J. Dionne Jr., Senior Fellow, Brookings Institute; Columnist, The Washington Post; Author, Our Divided Political Heart: The Battle for the American Idea in the Age of Discontent A frequent guest on ABC’s This Week and NBC’s Meet The Press, The Washington Post Op-Ed columnist Dionne is thought by some to be an expert on competing political philosophies in America. Offering an incisive analysis of how hyper-individualism is poisoning the nation’s political atmosphere,...
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Week to Week: The News Commentary Program (6/29/12)
Week to Week: The News Commentary Program Greg Dalton, Founder and Director, Climate One John Diaz, Editorial Page Editor, San Francisco Chronicle Larry Gerston, Professor, SJ State Univ.; Political Analyst, NBC 11; Author, Not So Golden After All: The Rise and Fall of California John Zipperer, Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club - Host Join our panelists for informative and lively commentary on political and other major news, plus an in-depth look at the big...
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Abraham Sofaer: Effective Policy Toward Iran (6/27/12)
Abraham Sofaer, Hoover Institution Senior Fellow: Effective Policy Toward Iran Abraham D. Sofaer, George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy and National Security Affairs, Hoover Institution; Legal Advisor, U.S. Department of State, 1985 to 1990; Author, Taking on Iran George P. Shultz, Former U.S. Secretary of State; Distinguished Fellow, Hoover Institution - Moderator A renowned expert in international law discusses legal options that the U.S. can pursue with Iran and how the U.S....
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Raj Patel: Stuffed and Starved, Still (6/12/12)
Raj Patel: Stuffed and Starved, Still Activist; Academic; Author, Stuffed and Starved, The Value of Nothing In conversation with Rose Aguilar, Host, "Your Call" on KALW 91.7 FM Half the world is malnourished, the other half obese. Why is there such a large discrepancy between the haves and the have-nots for what we all need: food? Patel conducts a global investigation to make sense of the world food crisis and charges that “the food system is filled with choices made by a handful of powerful...
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Joseph Stiglitz: The Price of Inequality (6/12/12)
Joseph Stiglitz Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Memorial Prize Winner for Economics; Professor, Columbia University; Author, The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future Joan Walsh, Editor at Large, Salon.com – Moderator Critics are charging that our current economic system has made America the most unequal advanced industrial country, with crippled growth and undermined democracy. With the top 1 percent of Americans controlling an estimated 40 percent of the country’s...
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David Walker, Former U.S. Comptroller General:...
David Walker, Former U.S. Comptroller General: Correcting America’s Fiscal Imbalances Founder, President and CEO, Comeback America Initiative; Author, Comeback America Through his efforts with Comeback America Initiative, Walker aims to remain a non-partisan voice for lawmakers in the hopes of correcting America’s federal, state and local fiscal imbalances. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on June 6, 2012
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General Colin Powell (6/7/12)
General Colin Powell Former U.S. Secretary of State; Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Author, It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership In conversation with Dan Ashley, News Anchor, ABC 7 TV; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors Throughout his decades of service to the country, General Powell has kept his private life out of the limelight. Now, in his new book, It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership, Powell is opening up to reveal the important principles that guided his...
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Bill Bradley: We Can All Do Better (5/18/12)
Bill Bradley: We Can All Do Better Bill Bradley, former U.S. Senator (D-New Jersey); Author, We Can All Do Better Bradley will offer his unique perspective on issues from foreign policy to election reform and the economy, and he will provide his view on the path out of the political stalemate that grips Washington and has frustrated Americans of every political stripe. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California on May 18, 2012
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Nancy Pelosi, Democratic House Leader: Commemorating 25...
Nancy Pelosi, Democratic House Leader: Commemorating 25 years in Congress In conversation with Dr. Gloria Duffy, President and CEO, The Commonwealth Club U.S. House Democratic leader Pelosi will headline a special Commonwealth Club conversation in which she will reflect on 25 years of representing San Francisco in Congress, her rise to become the first woman speaker of the House, and her continued efforts to represent the American people. This program was recorded in front of a live audience...
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The Golden Gate Bridge at 75: What Makes an Icon...
The Golden Gate Bridge at 75: What Makes an Icon Kevin Starr, California State Librarian, Emeritus; History Professor, University of Southern California; Author, Golden Gate: The Life and Times of America's Greatest Bridge John Harper, Historian, Chevron Corporation Paul Giroux, American Society of Civil Engineers’ Chairman, Golden Gate Bridge 75th anniversary Brian Hackney, Correspondent, CBS 5 TV’s “Eye on The Bay” - Moderator Come take an incisive look at the history of the Golden Gate...
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Paul Krugman: End This Depression Now (5/22/12)
Paul Krugman, Columnist, The New York Times; Professor of Economics and International Affairs, Princeton University; Author, End This Depression Now! Nobel Laureate economist Krugman believes that the U.S. and world economies are not getting better. He says we are still in the midst of a depression rather than a recession, and that “nations, rich in resources, talent, and knowledge, all the ingredients for prosperity and a decent standard of living for all, remain in a state of intense...
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Week to Week: May 14, 2012
Week to Week: May 14, 2012 Larry Gerston, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, San Jose State University; Political Analyst, NBC 11; Author, Not So Golden After All: The Rise and Fall of California Carly Schwartz, Founding Editor, Huffington Post San Francisco In conversation with John Zipperer, Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California It's our first Monday program of Week to Week! Join us for informative and fun commentary on the week's news, featuring our...
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John Stossel: Fighting Government (4/20/12)
John Stossel: Fighting Government John Stossel, Fox News/Business Correspondent; Author, No They Can’t: Why Government Fails…but Individuals Succeed Fox News and Business Correspondent John Stossel has criticized government programs as inefficient, wasteful, and harmful, and he says he’s prepared to lay out the facts about why government can’t solve our problems. Come hear his thought provoking arguments about job creation, healthcare, education, and product regulation ... and his further...
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Week to Week: April 27, 2012
Week to Week: April 27, 2012 Larry Gerston, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, San Jose State University; Political Analyst, NBC 11; Author, Not So Golden After All: The Rise and Fall of California Debra J. Saunders, Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle; "Token Conservative" blogger, SFGate.com Carla Marinucci, Senior Political Writer, San Francisco Chronicle In conversation with John Zipperer, Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California Join us for informative...
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Timothy Geithner, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury...
Remarks on the U.S. and Global Economies Ahead of the 2012 U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue Timothy Geithner, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Adam Lashinsky, Senior Editor at Large, Fortune; Author, Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired and Secretive Company Really Works - Moderator In his visit to San Francisco, Secretary Geithner will address the condition of the U.S. economy as he argues that we have made significant progress toward economic recovery over the last three years,...
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Rachel Maddow (4/12/12)
Rachel Maddow Host, The Rachel Maddow Show; Author, Drift In Conversation with Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, Author; Screenwriter; Accordionist Rhodes Scholar, AIDS activist, civics geek, "blindly partisan" and even the “grand doyenne of liberal demagoguery” according to Gawker – Rachel Maddow has been called many things over the years, but until now, "author" has not been one of them. This year the sassy and smart-as-a-whip host of MSNBC’s politico program, The Rachel Maddow Show,...
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Jonah Lehrer: How Creativity Works (4/5/12)
Jonah Lehrer: How Creativity Works Contributing Editor, Wired; Author, How We Decide and Imagine: How Creativity Works Tim Ritchie - President, The Tech Museum- Moderator Acclaimed science writer and popular blogger Jonah Lehrer helped us learn about our decision making process in his best-selling book How We Decide. Now he delves into the human mind to decipher the anatomy of imagination and explore the new science of creativity with Imagine. Lehrer introduces us to musicians like Bob Dylan...
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Week to Week: (3/30/12)
Week to Week: March 30, 2012 Larry Gerston, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, San Jose State University; Political Analyst, NBC 11; Author, Not So Golden After All: The Rise and Fall of California Carly Schwartz, Editor, Huffington Post San Francisco Susan Reynolds, Editor, The Marina Times John Zipperer, Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California -- Host Join us for informative and fun commentary on the week's news, featuring our expert panelists, an...
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Dave Eggers, Founder and Editor, McSweeney’s (3/22/12)
DAVE EGGERS: INFORUM’S 21ST CENTURY VISIONARY AWARD Dave Eggers, Founder and Editor, McSweeney’s; Co-Founder, 826 Valencia; Author, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius; In conversation with Dan Moulthrop, Co-Author, Teachers Have It Easy; Co-founder, The Civic Commons; Former Public Radio Host Having charmed the literary world at the age of 30 with his best-seller, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Eggers immediately lent his commercial success to the enlightenment of our...
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Jodi Kantor: What You Don't Know About the Obamas...
What You Don't Know About the Obamas Jodi Kantor, Arts and Leisure Editor, The New York Times; Author, The Obamas Belva Davis, Journalist/Host, KQED, This Week in Northern California- Moderator The author of the new highly publicized bio of President Obama and the first lady reveals personal and political details, and how the first couple’s partnership affects all Americans. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club on March 21, 2012
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Week to Week (3/16/12)
Week To Week Dr. Larry Gerston, Professor of Political Science, San Jose State University; Political Analyst, NBC 11; Author, Not So Golden After All: The Rise and Fall of California Debra J. Saunders, Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle; "Token Conservative" Blogger, SFGate.com Brian Caulfield, Technology Journalist, Forbes John Zipperer, Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California -- Moderator Join us for informative and fun commentary on the week's news,...
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T.C. Boyle (3/5/12)
T.C. Boyle Author, When the Killing’s Done: A Novel; Distinguished Professor of English, University of Southern California Dr. Gloria Duffy, President and CEO, The Commonwealth Club- Moderator Prolific and renowned author T. Coraghessan Boyle has written 22 novels, many of which probe the relationship between contemporary human civilization and the natural world. His latest work, When the Killing’s Done, adopts as its setting California’s geographically isolated Channel Islands and gives a...
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Russell Feingold (3/1/12)
Russell Feingold Former U.S. Senator (D-Wisconsin); Author, While America Sleeps: A Wake-up Call for the Post-9/11 Era Christopher Edley, Jr., Dean, Berkeley Law School, University of California -- Moderator Widely known for his efforts to spur campaign finance reform during his 18 years as a U.S. senator, Democratic Feingold was the only senator to oppose the Patriot Act of 2001 and the first to propose a concrete timetable for the dissolution of American troops in Iraq. He is also a major...
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George Shultz, Sam Nunn, William Perry: The Nuclear...
George Shultz, Sam Nunn, William Perry: The Nuclear Chessboard, 2012 George Shultz, Former U.S Secretary of State under President Reagan William Perry, Former U.S. Secretary of Defense under President Clinton Sam Nunn, Former U.S. Senator, Georgia (1972-96), Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative Philip Taubman, Consulting Professor, Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation; Former New York Times Washington Bureau Chief; Author,...
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Adam Lashinsky-Inside Apple (2/15/12)
Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired and Secretive Company Really Works Adam Lashinsky, Senior Editor at Large, Fortune Jessica Vascellaro, Senior Technology Reporter, The Wall Street Journal - Moderator If Apple is Silicon Valley’s answer to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, then Lashinsky provides readers with a golden ticket to step inside. In a 2008 Fortune cover story entitled, “The Genius Behind Steve: Could Operations Whiz Tim Cook Run the Company Someday?” he predicted that Tim...
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How to Hire Like Google: Bagging and Becoming the Rare...
How to Hire Like Google: Bagging and Becoming the Rare Find Laszlo Bock, Senior Vice President, People Operations, Google George Anders, Author, The Rare Find In conversation with Brad Stone, Senior Writer, Bloomberg Businessweek The nature of work is changing. Companies are learning to hire during a recession and hold onto increasingly smart, proficient and flexible employees. Google’s unique hiring process and reputation for wooing potential hires has generated a lot of myths and models....
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Thomas Frank (1/26/12)
Thomas Frank Founding Editor, The Baffler; Author, What’s the Matter with Kansas? and Pity the Billionaire: The Hard Times Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right Joseph Fink, President Emeritus, Dominican University of California - Moderator The best-selling author of What's the Matter with Kansas? takes a sardonic look at why he believes the the worst economy since the 1930s has brought about the revival of conservatism. When Frank set out in 2009 to look for expressions of American...
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Humor Columnist Dave Barry and Former "SNL" Writer Alan...
Humor Columnist Dave Barry and Former "SNL" Writer Alan Zweibel Dave Barry, Humor Columnist; Co-author, Lunatics Alan Zweibel, Former Writer, "Saturday Night Live"; Co-author, Lunatics Doug Sovern, KCBS Radio/ CBS 5 TV Correspondent (Moderator) Beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Barry and quirky Thurber Prize-winning writer and "SNL" alum Zweibel take you on a literary journey of inspiration and mayhem. In a world filled with unbelievable jerks and morons, the two main characters of...
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Dylan Ratigan (1/18/12)
Dylan Ratigan Host, “The Dylan Ratigan Show,” MSNBC; Author, Greedy Bastard$! Quentin Hardy, Deputy Technology Editor, The New York Times- Moderator Dylan Ratigan, host of one of the highest rated daytime shows on MSNBC, graces The Commonwealth Club with his hardball, gloves-off approach to American politics and big business. In his first book, Greedy Bastards, Ratigan details what he calls a “broken system” and “illustrates how fixing these problems will release a renaissance of growth and...
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Michael Gazzaniga: Who's in Charge? Free Will and the...
Who's in Charge? Free Will and the Science of the Brain Michael Gazzaniga, Professor of Psychology and Director of the SAGE Center for the Study of Mind, UC Santa Barbara Known as the "father of cognitive neuroscience," Gazzaniga makes a powerful argument for free will. The question of free will versus determinism continues to vex scientists, psychologists and philosophers, but the biological evidence is not as stridently deterministic as it is often presented. Dr. Gazzaniga argues that the...
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Occupy: What Now, What Next? (12/15/11)
Iris Brown, Organizer, Occupy Oakland Nadim Haidar, Nonviolent Direct-Action Trainer; Travelling Occupier, Denver, Boulder, Santa Fe, Oakland George Lakoff, Cognitive Linguist & Professor, UC Berkeley Jean Quan, Mayor, Oakland Melissa Griffin, Columnist, San Francisco Examiner; Co-Host, Necessary Conversations- Moderator Diana Macasa, Outreach Working Group Member, OccupySF #OWS, pepper spray, book sharing, tents, mic checks and protest signs: Since September, the Occupy movement has staked...
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Insiders Look at Education: Creating Great Teachers...
Insiders Look at Education: Creating Great Teachers John Merrow, Education Correspondent, NPR/PBS; Author, The Influence of Teachers Kathleen Martin McCarthy, Recipient, 2011 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching; Teacher, Washington Elementary School, San Leandro Anthony Smith, Ph.D., Superintendent, Oakland Unified School District Steven Thomas, Science Teacher/Director, De Anza High School Health Academy, West Contra Costa Unified School District Dr....
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Paula Kerger and John Boland: PBS, KQED - Where is...
PBS – Past, Present and Future PBS President Paula Kerger and KQED President John Boland In conversation with Robert Rosenthal, Executive Director, Center for Investigative Reporting Kerger is president and CEO of PBS, the nation’s largest non-commercial media organization, with more than 350 member stations throughout the country. Boland oversees KQED Public Media, including KQED Television – one of the nation's most-watched public television stations during primetime, with more than 1.5...
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Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor and Publisher, The Nation...
Katrina vandal Heuvel, Editor and Publisher, The Nation; Author, The Change I Believe in: Fighting for Progress in the Age of Obama In conversation with Phil Bronstein, Editor-at-Large, Hearst Newspapers Vanden Heuvel challenges the limits of our downsized political debate, arguing that timid incrementalism and the forces of establishment power that debilitate American politics can be overcome only by independent organizing, strategic creativity and determined idealism. In the wake of the...
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Jennifer Granholm and Dan Mulhern: Fighting for...
Jennifer Granholm and Dan Mulhern: Fighting for America’s Economic Future Jennifer Granholm, Former Governor of Michigan; Co-author, A Governor’s Story: The Fight for Jobs and America’s Economic Future Dan Mulhern, Senior Advisor, Families and Work Institute; Co-author, A Governor’s Story: The Fight for Jobs and America’s Economic Future Lisa Vorderbrueggen, Reporter and Columnist, Contra Costa Times, Bay Area News Group, Media News – Moderator The impact of the recent economic crisis was...
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Tom Brokaw, NBC Nightly News Special Correspondent...
Tom Brokaw NBC Nightly News Special Correspondent; Author, The Greatest Generation, Boom! and The Time of Our Lives: A Conversation about America Dan Ashley, News Anchor, KGO TV and Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors - Moderator With all of the current political, social and economic challenges facing our country, veteran television broadcaster Brokaw asks: What happened to the America I thought I knew? In an effort to reconnect our families, communities and commitment to civic...
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Robert Mueller, FBI Director: Changing Threats In A...
Changing Threats in a Changing World: Staying Ahead of Terrorists, Spies and Hackers Robert S. Mueller III, Director, FBI As technology and globalization change our world, the threats to our nation’s security are changing as well. The FBI must stay ahead of these changes, in order to protect our safety and prosperity. FBI Director Mueller discusses how threats are evolving in the FBI’s top three national security priority areas – counterterrorism, counterintelligence and cyber security – and...
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Chris Matthews, Host, “Hardball with Chris Matthews,”...
Chris Matthews Host, “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” MSNBC; Author, Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero David Kennedy, Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History, Emeritus, Stanford University - Moderator Discover a new side to an American icon. Throughout the media storm that has followed him in life and death, President John F. Kennedy is still referred to as “that elusive man” by even his closest friends and family members. TV Host Chris Matthews sought to pull away the mystery when he began...
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Amory Lovins: Reinventing Fire - Bold Business Solutions...
Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era Amory Lovins, Author; Co-founder and Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute Renowned environmentalist Lovins maps business-led pathways for the U.S. to phase out fossil fuels and win the global clean energy race. He envisions a future in which a 2.6-times larger U.S. economy in 2050 could need no oil, coal or nuclear energy, use one-third less natural gas, and save trillions. The transition can be led by business for profit...
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Social Networking on the Brain: Neuroscience and the New...
Social Networking on the Brain: Neuroscience and the New Media Adam Gazzaley, Associate Professor of Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry and Director, Neuroscience Imaging Center, UCSF Josh McHugh, CEO, Attention Span Media Tiffany Shlain, Founder, Webby Awards; Filmmaker, Connected: An Autobiography about Love, Death and Technology David Ewing Duncan, Author, Experimental Man; Co-host, Tech Talk Radio – Moderator More than a billion people around the world are engaged in a massive and...
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Your Brain on Music: A Story of Song Meets Science...
Your Brain on Music: A Story of Song Meets Science Daniel Levitin, Author, This Is Your Brain on Music In musical conversation with Alex de Grassi, Grammy Award-nominated Fingerstyle Guitarist Ever wonder what’s going on in your brain when you tune in to your favorite radio station or hum that song stuck in your head? Humans have been creating and enjoying music for thousands of years, but what really creates the experience? Is the brain of a musician different than the brains of the rest of...
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Reid Hoffman and Brian Chesky Talk Two Generations of...
Reid Hoffman and Brian Chesky Talk Two Generations of Tech Reid Hoffman, Partner, Greylock; Executive Chairman and Co-founder, LinkedIn; Previous Executive VP, PayPal Brian Chesky, Co-founder and CEO, Airbnb In conversation with Brad Stone, Senior Technology Writer, Bloomberg Businessweek One of Silicon Valley’s most successful entrepreneurs and one of the Valley’s most promising individuals are coming together to talk about the business of tech. Hoffman has not only been an important angel...
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Jim Lehrer: Former News Anchor, PBS “NewsHour” (10/19/11)
Jim Lehrer Former News Anchor, PBS “NewsHour”; Author, Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates, from Kennedy-Nixon to Obama-McCain In conversation with David Kennedy, Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History Emeritus, Stanford University As the “man in the middle seat,” legendary broadcaster Lehrer has presided more than 11 presidential and vice-presidential debates. Drawing on his own experiences and interviews with candidates and other moderators, Lehrer gives an insider account of...
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Laurence Tribe and Roger Pilon: The Constitutionality of...
The Constitutionality of Health-Care Reform Laurence Tribe, Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard Law School Roger Pilon, Founder and Director of Cato's Center for Constitutional Studies Jesse Choper, Earl Warren Professor of Public Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law - Moderator Is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act constitutional? As the litigation on health-care reform percolates up toward the Supreme Court, legal experts Pilon and Tribe debate the...
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Lawrence Lessig: Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts...
Lawrence Lessig Director, the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics, Harvard University; Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Author, Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress – and a Plan to Stop It With the influx of private donations and corporate campaign expenditures continuing to balloon, trust in government is at an all-time low. Lessig discusses the evolution of our “economy of influence,” faulting both Democrats and Republicans and offering a plan to end corruption and...
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Michele Bachmann: The Revival of American...
Michele Bachmann: The Revival of American Competitiveness Congresswoman; Republican Candidate for U.S. President According to the World Economic Forum, the United States has slipped to fifth in global competitiveness. Republican presidential candidate and Minnesota Congresswoman Bachmann will present her views on pro-business economic policies that will allow private sector businesses to compete in the global market while addressing the need for job-skill retraining, innovation,...
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Dr. Jeffrey Sachs (10/10/11)
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs Director, Earth Institute, Columbia University, Special UN Advisor; Author, The Price of Civilization Michael Moritz, Managing Member, Sequoia Capital - Moderator Sachs gives a startling account of the inadequacies of U.S.-style capitalism. He offers a bold plan of reforms relating to sustainable infrastructure, taxes, job training, etc., that he says must be taken to avoid further damage. One of the most influential international economic advisors, Sachs was the director...
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Joseph Cirincione, President, Ploughshares Fund: Shaping...
Shaping a 21st Century Strategy for National Security Joseph Cirincione, President, Ploughshares Fund; Author, Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons In conversation with Dr. Gloria Duffy, President and CEO, The Commonwealth Club How should the U.S. confront nuclear terrorism and the currently unstable economic and political dynamics in the Middle East? Osama bin Laden’s death and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan indicate that the post-9/11 security era...
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Supporting Veterans and Taking National Priorities Local...
Supporting Veterans and Taking National Priorities Local Deborah Alvarez-Rodriguez, President and Chief Executive Officer, Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin; Board Chair, East Bay Community Foundation Major General Michael Myatt, President and CEO, Marines Memorial Association; Chair, Fleet Week Association Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director and Founder, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Ana Thompson, Executive Director, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation Jane...
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Susan N. Herman: The War on Terror and the Erosion of...
Susan N. Herman: The War on Terror and the Erosion of Democracy President, ACLU; Author, Taking Liberties: The War on Terror and the Erosion of Democracy Following the 9/11 attacks, Americans watched as the government implemented numerous pieces of antiterrorist legislation such as the Patriot Act in an effort to fight the war on terror. In recent years, however, many civil rights advocates have increasingly argued that these emergency measures may pry too deeply into the lives of not only...
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Francis S. Collins: A Revolution in Biomedical...
A Revolution in Biomedical Innovation Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D, Director, National Institutes of Health Larry Brilliant, M.D., MPH, President and CEO, Skoll Global Threats Fund - Moderator Hear one of the world’s most influential scientists and medical researchers discuss the coming revolution in biomedical innovation – and what it might mean for you. Dr. Collins oversees the work of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the federal agency that is the nation’s largest supporter of...
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Public-Private Partnerships: Boosting America's Jobs,...
Public-Private Partnerships: Boosting America’s Jobs, Education and Economic Development John Donahoe, CEO, eBay; Member, White House Council for Community Solutions John Lee, Executive Director, The Bread Project Nicole Levine, Executive Director, Women's Initiative for Self Employment for San Francisco and the Bay Area Sid Espinosa, Director of Corporate Citizenship, Microsoft Corporation; Mayor, City of Palo Alto Sydnie Kohara, Broadcast Journalist - Moderator During challenging economic...
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Finding Faith and Spirituality in the 21st Century...
Finding Faith and Spirituality in the 21st Century Julian Guthrie, Journalist, San Francisco Chronicle; Author, The Grace of Everyday Saints Michael Krasny, Ph.D, KQED Radio Host; Author, Spiritual Envy: An Agnostic’s Quest Rabbi Stephen Pearce, D.D., Ph.D., Senior Rabbi, Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco Bishop William Swing, President and Founder, United Religions Initiative; Episcopal Bishop of California, 1980-2006 Alan Jones, Dean Emeritus, Grace Cathedral - Moderator A panel of...
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Eric Ries: The Principles of a Lean Startup (9/27/11)
The Principles of a Lean Startup Eric Ries, Author, The Lean Startup In conversation with Dave McClure, Founder, 500 Startups Starting one, working for one, going public with one – startups seem to be the thing to do in SF. But how do you make your startup great? Ries, the guru behind the “Lean Startup” sensation, asks: Is your startup employee-centric and knowledge-obsessed? Is your company functioning at optimal efficiency? Is your office a fun place to work? Ries reveals what he believes...
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Joel Brinkley: Israel and the Arab Spring (9/19/11)
Israel and the Arab Spring Joel Brinkley, Journalism Professor, Stanford University; Foreign Affairs Columnist John Diaz, Editorial Page Editor, San Francisco Chronicle - Moderator Former New York Times Israel bureau chief and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Brinkley takes us inside his recent working trip to the Middle East, where he covered a tour of U.S. and European officials in the Middle East and interviewed several senior, regional leaders. Hear an eyewitness perspective on the...
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Gavin Newsom: The Man, the Issues and the State of...
Gavin Newsom: The Man, the Issues and the State of California Lieutenant Governor, California; Former Mayor, San Francisco In conversation with Scott Shafer, Host, "California Report," KQED Now that Newsom has packed up his San Francisco office and moved to Sacramento, he’s encountering many new challenges and responsibilities. He began his term with California billions of dollars in debt and facing numerous contentious issues. Come hear Newsom’s positions on the most important issues facing...
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Frances Moore Lapp: EcoMind (9/6/11)
EcoMind Frances Moore Lapp, Author, Diet for a Small Planet Drawing on the latest research from disciplines ranging from anthropology to neuroscience and her own field experience, Lapp argues that the biggest challenge to human survival isn't our fossil fuel dependency, melting glaciers or other calamities. Rather, she says, it's our faulty way of thinking about these environmental crises that robs us of power. Lapp dismantles seven common "thought traps" that belie what we now know about...
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India Now Series: Navi Radjou, INDOvation - India's Rise...
INDOvation: India’s Rise as an Innovation Superpower Navi Radjou, Independent Consultant and Fellow, Cambridge Judge Business School; Former Executive Director, Centre for India & Global Business, University of Cambridge India’s pervasive resource and capital scarcity combined with massive diversity and growing connectivity are turning the country into a large-scale, living laboratory where grassroots entrepreneurs and corporations are coming up with frugal inventions that are both...
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India Now Series: Rajiv Doshi and Anurag Mairal -...
Medical Technology Innovation for India Rajiv Doshi, M.D., Executive Director (U.S.), Stanford-India Biodesign; Consulting Assistant Professor of Medicine, Stanford University Anurag Mairal, Ph.D., Director, Global Biodesign Exchange Programs, Stanford University The emerging health-care needs of the rapidly expanding Indian population require the development of novel, cost-effective medical technologies that are relevant for the needs of the Indian people. However, the medical technology...
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India Now Series: India and China in the World Economy...
India and China in the World Economy, and Why That Matters William Miller, Herbert Hoover Professor of Public and Private Management Emeritus, Stanford Graduate School of Business; President Emeritus, SRI International Rafiq Dossani, Senior Research Scholar, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University; Executive Director, South Asia Initiative Sean Randolph, President and CEO, Bay Area Council Economic Institute - Moderator India and China are the world’s two most populous...
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India Now Series: Minal Hajratwala, Leaving India - My...
India and Her Fragments: Migrations from Old to New Worlds Minal Hajratwala, Author The story of India’s 30-million-and-growing worldwide diaspora is reshaping trade, identity and culture all around the globe. Hajratwala will speak on what she says Americans need to know today about the rapidly changing country to which nearly 2 million Americans trace their roots. Hajratwala will draw from the seven years of research that led to her nonfiction book, Leaving India, winner of a California...
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India Now Series: Bulbul Tiwari, Bollywood Now (8/24/11)
Bollywood Now Bulbul Tiwari, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University In this special program, Stanford Fellow Tiwari introduces us to historical and contemporary Indian Hindi film. She will provide insight into the significant conventions, economics and genres, including a screening of excerpts from old and new musical film performances. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on August 24, 2011
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India Now Series: Ranjan Dey, Spices of India Cooking...
Spices of India Cooking and Henna Party Ranjan Dey, Proprietor, New Delhi Restaurant; Founder, New World Spices A special event with acclaimed chef and proprietor of San Francisco’s New Delhi Restaurant. The evening included a cooking demonstration using Chef Dey’s “speed scratch” style with a masalas spice-blend, sampling of traditional Indian flavors, and henna hand painting. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on...
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India Now Series: Rajasvini Bhansali - India Shining,...
India Shining: From the Ground Up Rajasvini Bhansali, MPA, Executive Director, International Development Exchange The rhetoric of India Shining, a 2004 public relations campaign, engineered by the then-ruling Hindu fundamentalist party, referred to the economic growth following India's IT boom and a few years of plentiful rain. As India's image as a developed nation grew in the eyes of the global north, it disguised the growing economic, social and cultural disparities in a country where...
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India Now Series: Salma Arastu - Sacred Heritage: A...
Sacred Heritage: A Merging of Islamic and Hindu Traditions Salma Arastu, Artist; Author Michael Pappas, Executive Director, SF Interfaith Council - Moderator Renowned Indian-born Muslim artist Arastu speaks to the contemporary relation of religion to art. In conjunction with her art exhibit at the SF Club office, she shares the inspiration for her imagery, a blending of spirituality, Islamic values and beauty in modern culture. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The...
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India Now Series: Veena Srinivasa - Pipe Dreams: Water...
Pipe Dreams – Water for Thirsty Cities in India Veena Srinivasan, Ph.D., Research Associate, Pacific Institute As India’s urban population and income grow in unprecedented numbers, supplying water reliably to the community has become a growing concern. Faced with limited reservoir storage, aging piped infrastructure, and rapidly growing demand, no Indian city today has a 24/7 water supply. India’s rapidly growing cities represent both a challenge and an opportunity. Because much of the...
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India Now Series: Nirvikar Singh-India's Economic Growth...
India’s Economic Growth: What Can We Expect? Nirvikar Singh, Ph.D., Professor of Economics, UC Santa Cruz; Author; Member of an Advisory Group to the Finance Minister of India on G-20 matters India’s economy is projected to grow in 2011 at a rate faster than almost every other country in the world. Is this growth sustainable? What will drive, and limit, its growth? How will it sustain innovation and entrepreneurship? What will be the role of the government? A prominent economist and expert...
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India Now Series: Rafiq Dossani-Muslims of India: Their...
Muslims of India: Their Politics, Identity and Economy Rafiq Dossani, Ph.D.; Author; Senior Research Scholar, Stanford University India’s 160 million Muslims differ geographically by language, socio-economic status and culture. The Muslim-Indian community shares a common trajectory of challenges in their political power and socio-economic status. Their identity, in the eyes of the average Indian, is evermore monolithic and faith-based. To some politicians, Muslim Indians are now considered a...
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Barbara Desoer, President, Bank of America Home Loans
The Future of the Housing Market Barbara Desoer, President, Bank of America Home Loans Jed Kolko, Ph.D., Policy Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California – Moderator Bank of America’s purchase of mortgage giant Countrywide three years ago came at the height of the housing crisis. Since that time, Bank of America has spent billions of dollars to clean up legacy issues including a recent announcement to pay $8.5 billion to resolve nearly all of the Countrywide-issued first lien residential...
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India Now Series: The Philosophy of Yoga in the Bhagavad...
The Philosophy of Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita Monday Night Philosophy dives deep into dharma, as detailed in the divine conversation between Krishna and Arjuna. Hear as they discuss the byways of yogic philosophy, and delight in Krishna’s failure to convince the warrior Arjuna to do battle with his relatives until Krishna realizes he must forego reasoning and rely on the usual divine persuasiveness of overwhelming power. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth...
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India Now Series: Sunil Asnani; Investing in India Today...
Investing in India Today Sunil Asnani, Portfolio Manager, Matthews International Capital Management Jennifer Schatz, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Matthews International Capital management India’s ability to not only achieve respectable economic growth in a turbulent environment but to do so without injecting mammoth stimulus, demonstrates its inherit resilience, says Asnani. However, blindly investing in anything in India could lead to disappointment. Come learn about growth...
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India Now Series: Swami Beyondananda; Wake Up Laughing,...
Wake Up Laughing, Wise Up Loving Swami Beyondananda, Cosmic Comic Swami Beyondananda gives a heart opening presentation. Find out why noted author Marianne Williamson has called Swami “The Mark Twain of our generation.” The Swami also takes live questions from the audience. If you have an answerable question, the Swami will have a questionable answer for you. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on August 1, 2011
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Ellen Tauscher: Arms Control and Nonproliferation: The...
Ellen Tauscher: Arms Control and Nonproliferation: The Road from Prague U.S. Under Secretary, Arms Control and International Security Dr. Gloria Duffy, President and CEO, The Commonwealth Club - Moderator The former U.S. congressional representative and current senior adviser to the president and secretary of state for arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament discusses the prospects for U.S. and international security in the midst of continued global unrest. Under Secretary Tauscher...
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Margaret Hoover: A New Generation of Conservatives and...
Margaret Hoover Contributor, Fox News; Author, American Individualism: How a New Generation of Conservatives Can Save the Republican Party Hoover lays the groundwork for how the GOP can capture the allegiance of the “fiscally conservative but socially liberal” millennial generation and help solve some of the country’s most pressing issues. Hear Hoover in an impassioned conversation on the future of the GOP and the country. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The...
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The Arab Spring (7/18/11)
The Arab Spring Nour Ahmedin, Egyptian Student Janet Penley, American Traveler Maher Kalaji, British/Jordanian Academic Dr. Abbas Milani, Director of Iranian Studies, Stanford University; Co-director, Iran Democracy Project, Hoover Institution; Author, The Shah Jonathan Curiel, Journalist; Author, Al'America: Travel Through America's Arab and Islamic Roots - Moderator Jonathan Curiel leads a discussion with panelists who have travelled throughout North Africa and the Middle East and...
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WWLD: What Would Libertarians Do? (7/25/11)
WWLD: What Would Libertarians Do? Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch, Co-editors, Reason Magazine and Reason.tv; Co-authors, The Declaration of Independents In conversation with Joe Garofoli, Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle; Author, Politics Blog, SFgate.com What do health care, same-sex marriage, marijuana law, the budget and social service policies look like on a Libertarian ticket? Authors of a new Libertarian manifesto, Gillespie and Welch offer up principles of “free minds and free...
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Stephen Zack, American Bar Association President:...
Threats to American Justice Stephen Zack, President, American Bar Association Geoffrey Hazard, Thomas E. Miller Distinguished Professor of Law, UC Hastings College of Law - Moderator Lauded as one of the country’s best lawyers in 2011 and the American Bar Association’s first Hispanic president, Zack will discuss underlying threats to the American legal system such as underfunding and political indecisiveness. Zack fled Cuba at the age of 14 after a harrowing night of detention and isolation...
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Larry Harvey: Burning Man, A Conversation with the...
Burning Man: A Conversation with the Founder Larry Harvey, Founder, Burning Man A first-time Burning Man attendee once said, “I walked through the gates, looked around, and asked myself, 'What is this place? Is it real?'” Every year up to 50,000 ‘burners’ make the pilgrimage to Black Rock City for eight days of commerce-free, debauchery-filled expression of human imagination. Leaving no trace of the party behind them, this diverse group of international artists, CEOs, technologists,...
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Jose Antonio Vargas: My Life as an Undocumented...
My Life As an Undocumented Immigrant Jose Antonio Vargas, Former Reporter, The Washington Post; Founder, Define American In conversation with Phil Bronstein, Editor-at-Large, Hearst Newspapers “I convinced myself that all would be OK if I lived up to the qualities of a 'citizen': hard work, self-reliance, love of my country.” Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist Vargas just revealed to The New York Times that he immigrated to the United States illegally at the age of 12. Raised...
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Bruce H. Lipton: The Biology of Belief (5/18/11)
The Biology of Belief Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., Author; Motivational Speaker Lipton unveils a vision of life science that is shattering old myths. New discoveries in cell biology, epigenetics and physics suggest that we are not victims of our genes but instead have unlimited capacity to live a life overflowing with peace, happiness and love. Infusing his pioneering stem cell research with insights from frontier cell biology, quantum physics and fractal mathematics, Lipton argues that our...
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Social Media for Social Good (5/23/11)
Social Media for Social Good Beth Kanter, CEO, Zoetica; Author, Beth’s Blog; Co-author, The Networked Nonprofit May Boeve, Director for Partnerships and Policy and Co-founder, 350.org Ben Rattray, Founder and CEO, Change.org Darian Rodriguez Heyman, Editor, Nonprofit Management 101; Former Executive Director, Craigslist Foundation – Moderator What are the tools, tricks and triumphs of social media as an essential component of any organization’s mission in the 21st century? Social media...
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Polly Trottenberg: U.S. Transportation Infrastructure:...
U.S. Transportation Infrastructure: Buying the Future Polly Trottenberg, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation If you have ever been stuck in traffic on the Bay Bridge, late to meetings, or have had a ruined weekend because you couldn’t make it to a destination in time, you know that California suffers from a major transportation infrastructure problem. From pot holes jarring people’s necks and backs, to bridges collapsing nationwide,...
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David Eagleman: The Brains Behind the Mind (6/23/11)
The Brains Behind the Mind David Eagleman, Neuroscientist, Baylor School of Medicine; Author, Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain In conversation with Kishore Hari, Director, Bay Area Science Festival What is our subconscious mind doing while we pay our bills, write emails and decide between crunchy and smooth at the grocery store? As neuroscientists are learning more and more about our body’s hidden frontier, we have gained fleeting insights into our own intuition, habits and seemingly...
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John Gray: Venus on Fire, Mars on Ice (6/20/11)
Venus on Fire, Mars on Ice: Hormonal Balance, the Key to Life, Love and Energy John Gray, Ph.D., Author, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus Come hear from best-selling relationship author Gray, whose monumental Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus sold an astounding 50 million copies worldwide. Now, Gray reveals what he says are the associations between hormone levels and happiness and advises men and women to harness the connections between stress, blood sugar, body fat and behavior...
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Steny Hoyer, Democratic Whip, U.S. House of...
The "Make It in America" Agenda Steny Hoyer, Democratic Whip, U.S. House of Representatives House Democratic Whip Hoyer (D-Md.), the second-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, will discuss the "Make it in America" agenda: a Democratic legislative program designed to help American businesses innovate here, grow here, make products here, and sell them to the world. Hoyer will explain his belief that wise investments in innovation, infrastructure and education can create jobs in...
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Adam Gazzaley: Brain plasticity across the lifespan...
Brain Plasticity Across the Lifespan Adam Gazzaley, Professor, UCSF It is now known that our brain changes structurally and functionally in response to our interactions with our environment throughout our lives, not just during critical times like childhood. This modern perspective is called neuroplasticity and scientists are actively exploring the intricacies of this phenomenon. Gazzaley discusses new theories on the topic, such as cognitive reserve, use-it-or-lose-it, and neural...
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Gary Shapiro: The Future of Innovation and Consumer...
The Future of Innovation and Consumer Electronics Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, Consumer Electronics Association; Author, The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream In conversation with Richard Watson, Co-founder and Partner, Essential From broadband spectrum to HDTV, from gaming to Hollywood and social media, innovation is happening through industry, entrepreneurs and technology advances. How is consumer electronics driving innovation in the U.S. and abroad? What...
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Cecile Richards: President, Planned Parenthood...
Cecile Richards President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America Katrina Heron, Editor-at-Large, Newsweek and The Daily Beast - Moderator This year, Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading provider of sexual and reproductive health care for women, found itself at the center of a congressional budget debate over abortion that almost shut down the United States government. Calling it the “most devastating assault on women’s health in American history,” Planned Parenthood and President...
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Googlization and the Future of Books (5/17/11)
Googlization, and the Future of Books Siva Vaidhyanathan, Professor of Media Studies and Law, University of Virginia; Author, The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry) Brewster Kahle, Digital Librarian and Founder, Internet Archive and the Open Content Alliance Learn about the legal, cultural and economic implications of Google moving into the center of the publishing ecosystem. Will Google’s presence cheapen the value of “book culture,” or will the power of the service to...
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It's Complicated: Muslims and Jews in America (6/1/11)
It's Complicated: Muslims and Jews in America Reza Aslan, Co-author, Muslims and Jews in America: Commonalities, Contentions, and Complexities; Contributing Editor, The Daily Beast Aaron Hahn Tapper, Co-author, Muslims and Jews in America: Commonalities, Contentions, and Complexities; Swig Chair of Judaic Studies, USF Aysha Hidayatullah, Assistant Professor of Islamic studies, USF Sydney Mintz, Rabbi, Congregation Emanu-El A distinguished panel takes a new look at the innovative ways in...
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Bruce Bodaken, CEO, Blue Shield of CA: A Health...
A Commitment to Health Insurance Affordability Bruce Bodaken, CEO, Blue Shield of California Sarah Varney, Health Reporter, KQED Radio - Moderator The rising cost of health care looms large over the state and the nation. The CEO of Blue Shield of California, one of the state's largest health-plan providers, will discuss new initiatives to address rising health-care costs in the context of national health reform. A native of Iowa, Bodaken doesn't fit the typical profile of a health-plan CEO....
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Walter M. Bortz: Is American Healthcare Threatening the...
Wealth Before Health: Is American Health Care Threatening the Stability of the Nation? Walter M. Bortz II, M.D. Recognized as one of the country's most distinguished scientific experts on aging and longevity, Bortz believes that the defects of the American health-care system threaten the stability of the nation. He argues that the financial interests of biotech and drug companies have eroded the values of the medical profession and placed profit before human well-being. Bortz makes a...
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Jorge G. Castaneda: Mexico's Future and Its Relationship...
Jorge G. Castaneda: Mexico's Future and Its Relationship with the U.S. Former Foreign Minister, Mexico; Professor of Politics and Latin American and Caribbean Studies, NYU; Author, Manana Forever? Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, Professor of Law and Political Science, Stanford University - Moderator Mexico’s future is most certainly dependent on its relationship with the United States. In fact, Mexico ranks third in total trade with the United States behind Canada and China. But in the midst of...
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Anna Lappe: Diet for a Hot Planet (5/18/11)
Anna Lappe Founding Principal, Small Planet Institute; Author, Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It Steve Wright, Vice President of Strategic Communications, Silicon Valley Leadership Group - Moderator With as much as one-third of total greenhouse emissions related to food production, the cost of our eating habits on the environment has never been more apparent. Lappe highlights the hidden cost of America’s culinary culture and...
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Willie Brown Jr.: 2011 Annual Lecture on Political...
Willie Brown Jr.: 2011 Annual Lecture on Political Trends Former Mayor, San Francisco; Chairman and CEO, Willie Brown Institute on Politics and Public Service With a new governor and an unprecedented fiscal crisis in California, 2011 is shaping up to be a big year for politics. Two-term mayor of San Francisco, legendary speaker of the California State Assembly, and regarded by many as one of the most influential African-American politicians of the late 20th century, Brown gives us the inside...
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James Stewart: Tangled Webs: How False Statements are...
James Stewart: Tangled Webs: How False Statements Are Undermining America Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist; Former Wall Street Journal Page One Editor; Staff Writer, The New Yorker; Author, Den of Thieves In conversation with Kirk Hanson, Executive Director, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, University of Santa Clara Business journalist Stewart says that a “perjury outbreak” is symptomatic of a broader breakdown of ethics in American life. It isn’t just the judicial system that relies on...
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Jack Dorsey: 21st Century Visionary Award (5/25/11)
Jack Dorsey: 21st Century Visionary Award Jack Dorsey, Co-founder, Twitter; Founder and CEO, Square In conversation with Kara Swisher, Co-executive Editor, All Things D Making Square Hip Entrepreneur, programmer, botanist, jean designer, taxi cab enthusiast and wanna-be mayor of New York City – Dorsey is a Jack-of-all-trades. Best known for revolutionizing communication via Twitter, Dorsey is now making waves with his one-inch-by-one-inch device called Square. “Payment is another form of...
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Annie Jacobsen: The Uncensored History of Area 51...
The Uncensored History of Area 51 Annie Jacobsen, Columnist, Los Angeles Times Magazine; Author, Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base Gil Gross, KGO Radio Host - Moderator Myths and hypotheses about Area 51 have long abounded, thanks to the intense secrecy enveloping it. Some claim it is home to aliens, underground tunnel systems and nuclear facilities, and some conspiracy theorists believe that the lunar landing itself was filmed there. No credible insider...
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Larry Flynt: One Nation Under Sex (5/18/11)
Larry Flynt, Publisher; Activist; Co-author, One Nation Under Sex David Eisenbach, Ph.D., Professor of American History, Columbia University; Co-author, One Nation Under Sex Legendary Hustler publisher Flynt is seen as a pro-sexuality trailblazer to some folks, but for others he’s the source for sex scandal and smut. Yet for three decades, Flynt has been a symbol of sexual freedom, crusading for First Amendment rights and against political hypocrisy. His landmark Supreme Court case, Hustler...
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Richard North Patterson, Author of Devil's Light...
Richard North Patterson Former Assistant Attorney General, Ohio; Former Trial Lawyer, Securities and Exchange Commission; Author, Eclipse and Exile Jonathan Curiel, San Francisco Journalist; Author, 'Al' America - Moderator Patterson has brought us 15 novels, 11 of them best sellers. His works deal with issues such as religion, the gun lobby, capital punishment and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Patterson’s newest novel takes on the issue of international terrorism and the real...
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Tavis Smiley: TV Host, PBS; Radio Host, PRI (5/10/11)
Tavis Smiley TV Host, PBS; Radio Host, PRI; Author, Fail Up: 20 Lessons on Building Success from Failure Award-winning television and radio broadcaster Smiley gives a peek behind the curtain of success to share personal stories of his missteps, misdeeds and miscalculations. Smiley recounts 20 instances of perceived “failures” that were, in fact, “lessons” that shaped the principles and practices he steadfastly employs in his business and personal life today. Come learn how to turn your...
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Les Hinton: CEO of Dow Jones & Company (5/3/11)
Dow Jones & Company CEO Les Hinton: Technology, Mobility and Accelerating the Collective Intelligence Quentin Hardy, Executive Editor, Forbes - Moderator Come hear from one of the most powerful leaders in media. Dow Jones CEO Hinton will discuss information in the digital era, the role of journalists, and harnessing technology to find intelligence admist the noise. Hinton has worked for News Corp. for more than 48 years as a journalist and executive in all corners of the world. After several...
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San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee (5/3/11)
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee Joe Garofoli, Political Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle - Moderator Lee became mayor of San Francisco in January, when Gavin Newsom left the position to take over as California's lieutenant governor. Lee, San Francisco’s first Chinese-American mayor, steps in at a time when many controversies challenge this major city, including issues over the America’s Cup, budgeting, the Central Subway and the upcoming elections for the city’s next mayor. This program was...
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Senator Dianne Feinstein, Member, United States Senate...
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Member, United States Senate (D-CA) in conversation with Greg Dalton, Founder of Climate One at The Commonwealth Club In this Climate One conversation at the Mark Hopkins Hotel, in San Francisco, Senator Dianne Feinstein touches on some longtime pursuits – national security experience and protecting the California desert from development. She also pledges to investigate the safety of the US nuclear fleet, protect children from toxins, and continue to shield...
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Paul Allen, Co-founder of Microsoft (4/26/11)
Paul Allen Co-founder, Microsoft; Chairman, Vulcan Inc.; Author, Idea Man: A Memoir In conversation with John L. Hennessy, President, Stanford University In 2007 and 2008, Time named Microsoft co-founder Allen one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Since making his fortune with Bill Gates, Allen’s impact has been felt in science, technology, business, medicine, sports, music and philanthropy. Allen explains how he has solved problems, what he’s learned from his many endeavors...
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Video Stars Tell All: Pathways to Fame & Fortune (3/9/11)
Video Stars Tell All: Pathways to Fame and Fortune Jim Louderback, CEO, Revision3 David Prager, CEO, Revision3 & Producer, Diggnation Tara Long, Host, Destructoid Dan Brown, Host, Dan 3.0 Jack Conte, Recording Artist, Pomplamoose Martine Paris, Marketing Manager, Electronic Arts - Moderator The revolution in web video distribution has opened the floodgates for those seeking fame and fortune. Hollywood talent are going directly to fans, and the rising stars of digital have production values...
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Steven Levy: Inside Google; The Myths, the Culture and...
Inside Google: The Myths, the Culture and the Secret Sauce Steven Levy, Senior Writer, Wired; Formerly Senior Editor and Chief Technology Writer, Newsweek; Author, In the Plex In conversation with John Battelle, Journalist; Founder and Chairman, Federated Media Publishing Is it the five-star chefs, free laundry and on-site masseuses that are the secret to Google's success? Perhaps its unique management style and innovative team? Either way, the revolutionary search engine has so deeply...
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Wendy Kopp-Founder and CEO, Teach for America (4/21/11)
Wendy Kopp Founder and CEO, Teach for America; Author, A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesn’t in Providing an Excellent Education for All Dr. Colleen Wilcox, Board of Governor and Executive Director, Alliance for Teaching - Moderator On Teach For America’s 20th anniversary, founder Kopp draws on the experiences of the organization’s 25,000 teachers and alumni who, driven by passionate belief in their students’ potential, have set out to accomplish what most think is...
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Michelle Rhee and Kevin Johnson: How to Transform...
Michelle Rhee and Kevin Johnson: How to Transform American Education Michelle Rhee, Founder and CEO, Students First; Former Chancellor, District of Columbia Public School System Kevin Johnson, Mayor of Sacramento; Chair, U.S. Conference of Mayors Task Force on Public Education Students First is an organization that Rhee calls a “national movement to transform education.” In her controversial three years as chancellor of the Washington, D.C., school system, she closed nearly two dozen...
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Julius Genachowski - Chairman of the FCC (4/14/11)
A conversation with Julius Genachowski Julius Genachowski, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission Adam Lashinsky, Senior Editor at Large, Fortune Magazine - Moderator Chairman Genachowski leads the federal agency responsible for wired and wireless communications. He has focused the FCC on the opportunities of digital communications, expansion of broadband access, and pursuing policies to spur private investment and innovation, foster competition and empower consumers. In a landmark...
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Capitalism in an Era of Climate Change (4/12/11)
Capitalism in an Era of Climate Change L. Hunter Lovins, President and Founder, Natural Capitalism Solutions; Author, Climate Capitalism: Capitalism in the Age of Climate Change David Chen, CEO and Founder, Equilibrium Capital Group Bruce Klafter, Managing Director for Environmental, Health, and Safety at Applied Materials Inc. Joel Makower, Chairman and Executive Editor, GreenBiz Group Inc. - Moderator The time when businesses could operate without regard for their environmental impact is...
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Howard Schultz, Chairman and CEO of Starbucks (4/4/11)
Howard Schultz, Chairman and CEO, Starbucks; Author, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul In conversation with Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief, Wired One of the world’s most influential corporate leaders shares how a small Seattle coffee shop spawned a global empire. Schultz discusses what he’s learned on his journey from small business owner to head of a company with more than 17,000 locations. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Mark...
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Dr. Michio Kaku: Physics of the Future (3/28/11)
Physics of the Future Michio Kaku, Host, “Science Fantastic”; Professor of Physics, City College of New York; Author, Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100 No one has used the revelations of science fiction to explain the realities of science more than Kaku, who takes us on a fast-forward look at tomorrow. Based on interviews with more than 300 of the world's top scientists who are already inventing the future in their labs, Kaku...
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John Kerry, U.S. Senator (D-MA); Chairman, Senate...
Senator John Kerry U.S. Senator (D-MA); Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Under Senator Kerry’s leadership, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee addresses the key foreign policy and national security issues facing the United States, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, nuclear nonproliferation and global climate change. As nations across the Middle East face unprecedented political upheaval, Kerry will discuss current affairs in that region as well as a variety of domestic...
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Randi Weingarten: Seeking Solutions Together: Using...
Seeking Solutions Together: Using Collective Bargaining to Solve Fiscal Problems and Improve Quality of Services Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers; Former president, United Federation of Teachers Bruce Fuller, Professor, Education and Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley - Moderator A recent CNN report states that Republican officials across the country have made teachers’ unions “public enemy No. 1.” Now teachers and their Democratic legislative...
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Bart Ehrman: Ph.D., Author, Forged and Jesus,...
Bart Ehrman Ph.D., Author, Forged and Jesus, Interrupted Alan Jones, Dean Emeritus, Grace Cathedral - Moderator Ehrman takes you on a journey to the ancient world and the forgery battles that have raged through the centuries. Ehrman contends that the New Testament is riddled with contradictions about the life of Jesus and his significance. He has provided compelling evidence that early Christianity was a collection of competing schools of thought and that the central doctrines we know...
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Should Sales of Violent Video Games Be Restricted?...
Should Sales of Violent Video Games be Restricted? Jim Steier, Founder and CEO, Common Sense Media George Rose, Executive VP and Chief Public Policy Officer, Activision Blizzard Inc. Michael McConnell, Director, Stanford Constitutional Law Center; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution John Diaz, Editorial Page Editor, San Francisco Chronicle - Moderator Do violent video games present a danger to national safety? Should selling them be restricted, as with pornography? Critics argue that there...
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Stress: The New Biological Clock -- How we can turn it...
Stress: The New Biological Clock – How We Can Turn It Back Elissa Epel, Ph.D., Health Psychologist, UCSF Calvin Harley, Ph.D., pioneer in telomere biology Jue Lin, Ph.D., Telomere/telomerase assay specialist in Elizabeth Blackburn's lab, UCSF Thea Singer, Author, Stress Less Groundbreaking science by Nobel Prize Winner Elizabeth Blackburn and health psychologist Elissa Epel links psychological stress not only with disease but directly with aging, all the way down to our cells – in...
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Egypt and the Middle East: Revolutions 2.0 (3/10/11)
Egypt and the Middle East: Revolutions 2.0 Jamal Dajani, Vice President of Middle East, North Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, Internews Network Stephen Zunes, Professor, University of San Francisco; Chair, Middle Eastern Studies Program; Author, Tinderbox and Non-Violent Social Movements Nour Ahmadein, Student, University of San Francisco; Member, Yalla! Students in Solidarity; Born and raised in Cairo Ayman Mohyeldin, Correspondent, Al Jazeera English – invited to drop in via...
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Global Corporate Social Responsibility Panel (3/14/11)
Global Corporate Social Responsibility: How You Can Scale Your Philanthropy and Volunteer Programs Worldwide Pamela Hawley, Founder and CEO, UniversalGiving - Host Bob Saldich, Former CEO, Raychem - Panel Introduction Gabriele Zedimayer, Vice President of Global Social Innovation, Hewlett Packard Trisa Thompson, Vice President of CSR, Dell Mark Edmunds, Vice Chairman and Regional Managing Partner, Deloitte LLP This expert panel of CEOs and executives will discuss the innovations and...
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Charles Ferguson: Inside Job (3/2/11)
Charles Ferguson: Inside Job, Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary (Feature) Charles Ferguson, Documentary Filmmaker, Inside Job and No End in Sight Adam Lashinsky, Senior Editor at Large, Fortune magazine - Moderator Come hear from the filmmaker of this year's Academy Award-winning best documentary feature film. Could the global economic meltdown of the last few years have been prevented? Ferguson believes that the crisis was no accident. His latest documentary, Inside Job, makes the...
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Michael Scheuer: Discovering Bin Laden (2/23/11)
Michael Scheuer: Discovering Bin Laden Michael Scheuer, Former Chief, Central Intelligence Agency’s Bin Laden Unit; Author, Osama bin Laden A 20-plus year veteran of the CIA, Scheuer provides a rare, detailed look at Osama Bin Laden, showing him still to be a formidable and implacable enemy of the West. Scheuer draws from a wealth of information about bin Laden and his evolution from peaceful Saudi dissident to America's Most Wanted. Shedding light on bin Laden’s development as a theologian,...
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The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report: Phil Angelides...
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report: Findings and Ramifications Phil Angelides, Chair, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission; Former Treasurer, State of California Mary Cranston, Senior Partner, Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman; Past Chair, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors - Moderator In the wake of the most significant financial crisis since the Great Depression, the president signed into law on May 20, 2009, the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, creating the Financial Crisis...
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Max Levchin and Peter Thiel: Smart Venture Capital in...
Max Levchin and Peter Thiel: Smart Venture Capital in 2011 Max Levchin, Founder, Slide; Co-founder, PayPal Peter Thiel, President, Clarium Capital; Co-founder, PayPal; Managing Partner, The Founders Fund Brad Stone, Senior Writer, BusinessWeek – Moderator Venture capitalists and entrepreneurs have long been ‘the masters of the universe,’ at least in Silicon Valley. They have turned the Valley into the heart of high-tech innovation and development and have the power to make or break some of...
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Dambisa Moyo, International Economist; Author, How The...
Dambisa Moyo Dambisa Moyo, International Economist; Author, How The West Was Lost and Dead Aid Richard Waters, West Coast Editor, Financial Times - Moderator Moyo daringly claims that the West can no longer afford to simply regard global up-and-comers as menacing gatecrashers. In a world where Western economies hover on the brink of recession while emerging economies post double-digit growth rates, Moyo calls out the economic myopia of the West and the radical solutions that it needs to...
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Addressing the Legacy of Agent Orange in Vietnam
Addressing the Legacy of Agent Orange in Vietnam Bob Edgar, President and CEO, Common Cause Charles R. Bailey, Director, Ford Foundation Special Initiative on Agent Orange/Dioxin Wars don’t end when the guns fall silent. Thirty-five years after the end of the Vietnam War, the legacy of Agent Orange - dioxin contaminated soils and a heavy burden of disability on people in Vietnam as well as on American veterans - continues to be a challenge. Recent progress, however, has created a window of...
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William Draper-Entrepreneur; Author of The Startup Game
William Draper Entrepreneur; Author, The Startup Game Ann Winblad, Co-founder and Managing Director, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners - Moderator For more than 40 years, Draper has worked with top entrepreneurs in fabled Silicon Valley, where today’s vision is made into tomorrow’s reality. This venture capitalist saw the value in Skype, Open Table and many other companies, and he will share his firsthand stories of success. Draper will provide an inside look at how the worlds of venture...
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San Francisco Giants’ Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean
San Francisco Giants’ Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean Bruce Bochy, Manager, SF Giants; Two time National League Manager of the Year Brian Sabean, Senior Vice President and General Manager, SF Giants In conversation with Roy Eisenhardt Now that they're the World Series champs, how can the San Francisco Giants stay on top and orchestrate a repeat performance in 2011? Come meet the people who strategized the Giants' World Series triumph and hear what's in store this season. Giants Manager Bochy...
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Simon Winchester: Atlantic – The Biography of an Ocean
Simon Winchester: Atlantic – The Biography of an Ocean Author, Krakatoa, The Professor and the Madman and Atlantic: A Biography of the Ocean Brian Hackney, Science Editor and host of "Eye on the Bay," CBS5 - Moderator Come learn about the epic sea battles, natural phenomena and colorful personalities that have helped shape and traverse one of the world’s largest bodies of water. A site of trade, exploration and natural resources that brought the discovery of new worlds and new peoples, the...
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The Obama Effect: Where Does the African-American...
The Obama Effect: Where Does the African-American Community Stand Now? Barbara Lee, U.S. Congresswoman, California's 9th Congressional District Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO, Green For All James Rucker, Co-founder and Executive Director, ColorOfChange.org Richard T. Ford, George E. Osborne Professor of Law, Stanford Law School; Author, The Race Card Martin G. Reynolds, Editor, The Oakland Tribune - Moderator What is the real effect on the black community of the first African-American president?...
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- San Francisco, CA
- Interviews, Interviews
- KQED
- English
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The Commonwealth Club of California
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San Francisco, CA
94105415-597-6700 -
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